Goshen College
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Summer 2011
Today we had our own version of Match Day, when the SSTers learned where they would be going for service and what they would be doing. The…
- each shares with the group where they’ll be going
The past few weeks Peru SSTers have sampled a variety of Peruvian art forms. From the oil paintings and wood sculptures of the Museum Pedro de Osma…
- The dance class with Pedro
- Victor Delfin
- group portrait with the artist
- self portrait
Our recent visit to Hospital María Auxiliadora was a chance to get an inside view of how health care is delivered to poor Peruvians. The range of…
- blowing up balloons to take to the pediatric unit
- the hospital
- greeting patients and parents
- smiling at a baby in isolation
- pediatric physical therapists appreciated some gifts for the office
- an altar in the middle of the hallway in the pediatrics unit
- meeting with the coordinator of pediatric critial care
Our service opportunity this week led us to Casa Hogar Juan Pablo II, an orphanage south of Lima that is home to 73 children between the ages…
- getting a tour of the orphanage
- working in the garden
- using a popular garden tool
- hiking up to an overlook
- looking out to the ocean
- at a traditional market in Lurin
Our plan was to arrive at Machu Picchu in time to see the sunrise, so we met for breakfast at 4 a.m. and were on our way…
- the day before: on the train to Aguas Calientes, the town outside Machu Picchu
- the night before: preparing peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch
- 4:45 a.m.: waiting for the bus to Machu Picchu
- sunrise
- admiring the view
- on tour
- listening to our guide
- appreciating the other view from Machu Picchu
- resident llamas
- the quarry
- post-tour fatigue
- that evening: back on the train to Aguas Calientes
- our in-train entertainment: a traditional legend comes alive
We spent several days visiting towns and archeological sites in the Urubamaba Valley, also known as the Sacred Valley of the Incas—a beautiful rural region north of…
- future tour leader
- In Chinchero
- preparing some natural dye
- Salvador shows us a potato
- presenting various traditional, natural dyes
- a break for tea
- traditional weaving
- the church in Chinchero
- shopping at the local market
- starting our hike to Moray
- the Incan test gardens at Moray
- heading for the center
- back up to the top!
- The ruins at Ollantaytambo
- the view from Ollantaytambo fortress
- Our guide Salvador points out the face in the mountain
- exploring the ruins at Pisac
- the hike at Pisac
- resting on the bus
Cusco is perhaps the most popular stop on Peru’s “Gringo Trail,” so we did our best to get out of the well established tourist areas and get…
- students from Promesa Mennonite school in San Jeronimo seranade us
- visiting a classroom at Promesa school
- ready for service!
- building a house foundation in Huacarpay
- Can they move it?
- YES!
- leveling piles of dirt in Huacarpay
- Drying maiz to store
- a flood-damaged home in Huacarpay
- More rocks to move
- Channeling their inner Incas
- taking a break for ice cream
- the ice cream store’s greeters
- our afternoon task: more more rocks
- at another home, helping to rebuild the foundation
- our last shot of the rock-moving day
- Saturday: visiting kids in a small settlement near Huacarpay
- looking for local kids to attend a health education workshop
- playing with kids near the village of Huacarpay
- first up: some singing
- demonstrating good hand washing
- demonstrating how to brush teeth…
- …and how much toothpaste to use
- Who’s got toothpaste?
- more singing
- brushing teeth
Just outside Cusco are three particularly interesting archeological sites that we were able to explore during our recent travels. We started at Tipon, a 500-acre complex of…
- at Tipon
- hiking up past the agricultural terraces
- Salvador tells us the story of Tipon
- enjoying the outdoors
- a canal at Tipon
- greeting a grazing sheep
- at Sacsayhuamán
- Sacsayhuamán cave
- wide open fields at Sacsayhuamán
- do they have what it takes to move one of these boulders?
- The view of Cusco from above Sacsayhuamán
- Incan fountains
- with Alicia
- Incan masonry
- near Sacsayhuamán
- The ruins of Pikillaqta, the Wari city
- pointing the way in Pikillaqta, the ancient Wari city
Our week of travel started in the Andean city of Cusco, a UNESCO world heritage site considered to be Latin America’s archeological capital. By the 15th century…
- at the airport
- our journey begins!
- Loading up the bus in Cusco
- Cusco’s airport
- on a tour of the city
- our guide Salvador shows us a map
- In the Plaza de Armas
- appreciating Incan masonry
- a traditional trapezoid-shaped doorway
- At Qoricancha (the Temple of the Sun)
- With host family members
- a traditional dance demonstration
We recently visited the nearby huaca (sacred place) Pachacamac, a museum and huge archaeological site just south of Lima that dates as far back as 200 A.D….
- on Incan-built stairs
- overlooking the Pacific
- remains of the sacred city, and urban growth just outside Pachacamac
- the temple of the moon
